Folding fan with leaf made of stiffened silk, decorated with watercolour painting on obverse and gold flecks on reverse, mounted to dark brown lacquered wooden slats and guards with carved phoenix and 'ruyi' sceptre decoration, riveted with ivory bolt. The obverse leaf is painted with Zhong Kui and five demons. Zhong Kui is a demon queller depicted here seated with full beard, wearing a long robe and a hat attached with two bud-shaped bobs. Three demons are playing Chinese musical instruments (flute, gongs and 'sheng'), while the other two are singing and dancing to amuse their master. This fan is dated to 'renyin' year of the Guangxu period (1902), inscribed in black ink on the left and with two red squared seals below. The inscriptions describe Zhong Kui as an eight foot tall man with good physique, who holds a sword of three feet long and commands different types of demon.
